Responsibility

The lighting in the country house was poor. The small window was fitted with frosted glass, and the faint light of dusk filtering through it left only a shallow lingering glow.

Zhao Danshi stood behind the door, his entire figure hidden in darkness. Li Ping could only hear his voice and could not see his expression at all.

Li Ping frowned. "Danshi, don't joke around."

Although he had been drunk that day, Li Ping was still certain that Zhao Danshi's body was entirely male, not intersex or anything else.

Zhao Danshi sighed in the darkness, that bitter sigh seeming to sink straight into Li Ping's heart. He did not say much more. He took two steps forward, stopped in front of Li Ping, and reached out to grab Li Ping's right hand.

His hand was thin, his fingers longer and more slender than most people's. When he grasped Li Ping's hand, it carried the comforting warmth of a human body, enclosing Li Ping's wrist completely in his palm.

Li Ping instinctively struggled, but Zhao Danshi gripped him tighter until Li Ping's hand touched his stomach.

Li Ping's eyes widened in the darkness.

The skin beneath his fingers was soft and hot, with startling elasticity. It was not soft and yielding like ordinary fat.

Li Ping turned his hand over and pressed his palm against Zhao Danshi's belly.

Holding up his shirt with one hand, Zhao Danshi softly said, "Dou Dou, move a little."

Li Ping said, "What?"

Before he had even finished speaking, something beneath Zhao Danshi's belly suddenly moved, playfully bumping into his palm.

Li Ping:!!!

He immediately stumbled back two steps. Then, realizing what had happened, he took a step back forward, held Zhao Danshi by the shoulders, and lightly touched his belly with his fingers, his eyes full of gravity.

Zhao Danshi lowered his shirt, brushed Li Ping's hand away with some fatigue, then took two steps forward and sat on the edge of the bed. "Actually, I didn't want to tell you at first."

"Mm?"

Zhao Danshi blinked his stinging eyes. A silent smile briefly appeared on his face before quickly fading away, and his voice returned to calmness. "I didn't expect you to come. I couldn't hide it anymore."

Li Ping walked over and sat beside him.

Zhao Danshi continued in a low voice, "I had been thinking about it wrong. As the child's other father, you should know that he exists."

Li Ping turned his head and stared at his outline in the darkness. "I'm glad I found out now. How did the child come to be? Can you tell me?"

"I'm entirely male. A Gestation Sac was implanted in me, and by coincidence, I had sex with you at that time, so I got pregnant."

"What?" Li Ping had not heard the middle two words clearly. "What was implanted?"

"A Gestation Sac. 'Gestation' as in pregnancy, 'sac' as in a pouch. It's a high-tech product, medical material used for male partners to conceive a child." Zhao Danshi said, "I'm sorry. In the end, it was my fault."

Zhao Danshi did not want to say much about the child's origins, so Li Ping did not press him. He crouched in front of Zhao Danshi and said, "This concerns both of us. Don't take it all on yourself. What are you planning to do next?"

"I have a childhood friend who works as a doctor in W City. I'll stay here for now. Once the child is full-term, I'll go to W City and ask him to help me. Then we can take the child out."

"How great is the risk you'll face in taking the child out?"

Zhao Danshi said, "According to the assessment, less than five percent."

Li Ping drew a deep breath. "Sorry, Danshi. I need to think this over carefully."

"Senior brother." Zhao Danshi looked at him seriously. "Although you're the child's other father, this child was an accident. I'm entirely male. When you had sex with me then, there was no reason for you to suspect pregnancy, so you can't be blamed for not taking precautions. As the one carrying the child, I chose to give birth to him rather than get rid of him the moment I discovered the pregnancy. I've endured the pregnancy alone, and in the future, I'll take him out and raise him."

"In short, I alone will be responsible for this child. You don't need to feel pressured by it."

Li Ping had just gone from thinking about the child starting kindergarten to entering middle school, and he was rendered speechless by those words.

Zhao Danshi said, "Senior brother, I want to raise this child by myself."

Li Ping asked, "How are you going to raise him alone?"

"There are plenty of single fathers and single mothers. I'll raise him however they do." Zhao Danshi said, "It's easier to register a child's household now than before. After the child is born, I'll get a paternity test and register him under my name. Once he's old enough, I'll take him to school in X City."

Li Ping frowned without speaking.

The two fell silent in the darkness. Zhao Danshi was the first to apologize. "Senior brother, I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

Li Ping shook his head. "Don't say that."

Zhao Danshi stood and walked out, intending to leave Li Ping some time and space to think alone.

After Zhao Danshi went outside, the old man was making dinner. Zhao Danshi went over to help tend the fire and warm himself by it.

The old man asked, "Did you two have a fight?"

"How could that be?" Zhao Danshi shook his head. "Do I look like someone who can get into a fight with people?"

"Then why is your friend alone in the room?"

Zhao Danshi acted unconcerned. "We're working together on a project. He's thinking over the project. By the way, Grandpa, do we have any clean quilts or sheets left at home?"

"There are quilts, but no sheets. The ones we bought before couldn't be stored for long and have all gone moldy and rotten. I lived here alone, so I never bought many sheets. The bedding on your bed was specially bought when I went to the market. Can your friend sleep with you?"

Zhao Danshi shook his head at him. "I like men. If we share a bed, I'm afraid he'd feel uncomfortable."

"How about I borrow a bed from Spoon's house?"

"Forget it." Zhao Danshi let out a long breath. "Let him stay at the town tonight. He drove here anyway, and it only takes ten minutes to get there."

The old man thought that made sense. "Then ask him later."

Li Ping got his emotions under control rather quickly. By the time Zhao Danshi carried the dishes into the living room, he had already come out of the room.

Seeing Zhao Danshi carrying two plates by himself, he stepped up to take them from him and said quietly, "Go rest."

Zhao Danshi did not fight him for them. He reached out and thumped his lower back, then moved a chair over and sat by the table to wait for dinner.

Li Ping watched him sit beneath the light with his chin propped on his hand. The dark circles beneath his eyes stood out even more against his pale skin, while his lips were so light they were nearly white. Unable to stop himself from worrying, Li Ping leaned closer and asked softly, "Are you tired?"

Zhao Danshi said, "A little. Once I finish dinner, I'll sleep early and I'll be fine."

Li Ping looked at his listless expression and wanted to say more, but the old man came in carrying the last dish.

Li Ping glanced over, then went to the cabinet to get bowls and chopsticks. Copying what the old man had done at noon, he rinsed them once with boiling water.

The old man came over. "I'll do it, I'll do it. You're a guest. How can I let you do this?"

Li Ping sidestepped, placed the bowls and chopsticks on the table, and Zhao Danshi stood to scoop rice into bowls.

Taking the rice from Zhao Danshi's hand, the old man suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Li Ping, "Oh, right. There aren't any extra quilts at home. Are you going to stay at the town tonight, or make do with Yun Yun for the night?"

Li Ping glanced toward the room and asked Zhao Danshi, "Would it be all right if I made do with you for the night?"

Zhao Danshi hesitated, but ultimately nodded.

The water had long since been boiled. After dinner, Zhao Danshi went to bathe, and Li Ping hurried to help him carry the water.

The old man watched them from behind with a cheerful smile, his expression relaxed.

It was not yet nine when Zhao Danshi and Li Ping lay beneath the covers. Both were used to city life, and it was still too early for either of them to fall asleep.

After several hours of thought, Li Ping sat up and looked at Zhao Danshi lying beside him. He said solemnly, "Danshi, the countryside is inconvenient. You should come back to X City with me and stay there during your pregnancy."

Zhao Danshi had already been getting sleepy, but those words jolted him awake. He pulled the quilt up to his neck with both hands and looked at Li Ping. "Senior brother, the child and I really aren't your responsibility. You... you don't need to take us on yourself."

Perhaps because it was nighttime, and because they were under the covers, both of them had lowered their guard.

Li Ping looked at him gently, his voice deep and magnetic. "I know, but I still want to provide better conditions for you and the child. Setting the child aside, we're closer than ordinary friends. You're having too hard a time here. Living conditions in the city are better."

Zhao Danshi suddenly felt rather melancholy. His long lashes lowered halfway, seeming to be edged with light beneath the dim yellow lamp. He said, "We're closer than ordinary friends, but we aren't lovers either. How could I live with you? Forget it."

Li Ping fell silent.

After waiting a while, Zhao Danshi softly said, "Senior brother, turn off the light."

Li Ping stretched out his long arm, felt for the switch on the wall, and with a click, turned off the light.

Zhao Danshi's breathing gradually became steady and deep in the darkness, but Li Ping could not fall asleep. He lay awake for a long time. Zhao Danshi, already deeply asleep, turned over, his thin, warm body pressing close to Li Ping, his belly against him as well.

Li Ping could not help reaching out to touch Zhao Danshi's stomach.

Then Zhao Danshi's belly nudged Li Ping's hand. The child inside was not settling down and kicked Li Ping's hand several times in succession.

Zhao Danshi was uncomfortable and let out a soft "Ah" in his sleep. Li Ping quickly withdrew his hand and stopped interacting with the child, but he did not move away. He remained pressed close to Zhao Danshi as he lay there.

Li Ping had slept late. When he woke the next day, he was alone in bed. He touched the covers beside him, but they had long since lost their warmth. Clearly, Zhao Danshi had been up for quite some time.

Li Ping lay under the covers, and Zhao Danshi's scent still lingered faintly at the tip of his nose, as though he were still sleeping peacefully beside him.

After a long while, Li Ping threw off the covers, got dressed, and went outside. The old man was already in the kitchen boiling water and preparing breakfast.

Smoke curled upward from the cooking fire, birds chirped softly in the mountains behind the house, and the crisp air swept away all of Li Ping's drowsiness.

Li Ping stretched a little, then walked into the kitchen to help. "Grandpa, where's Danshi?"

"He went to water the vegetables in the fields." The old man was picking greens into a vegetable basket. "He should be back before long."

Li Ping's heart tightened, and his voice rose involuntarily. "He's still carrying water to irrigate the vegetables in his condition?"

The old man looked over suspiciously. "Huh?"

"Where is he watering the vegetables?"

"At the foot of the western mountain."

Without another thought, Li Ping hurried outside, his clothes fluttering behind him. "Grandpa, I'm going to find him!"